Seneca Valley celebrates milestone in intermediate high school project
JACKSON TWP — Ironworkers placed the final beam in the works of Seneca Valley Intermediate High School’s coming academic wing, closing the structural chapter of its construction, on Monday, Nov. 2.
The beam was signed by members of the construction team, district officials and select students, who were on-site to observe a “topping out” ceremony celebrating the milestone.
The wing at Seneca Valley School District’s secondary campus is expected to create 200,000 square feet of new learning space and will house a 1,600-seat performing arts center/auditorium.
43 classrooms, 12 science labs and a biotechnology lab, among other areas, will be created for student use.
The project was first conceived more than a decade ago following a feasibility study, according to Eric DiTullio, Seneca Valley’s school board president.
“Long before the first shovel entered the ground, there was a vision for this building,” DiTullio said.
Structural steel represents something larger than itself, DiTullio said. He referred to it as the “unsung hero” of a finished construction.
“Few people will ever see it,” DiTullio said. “Yet it will quietly carry the weight of this building every single day.”
Lily Johns, an eighth-grade student and student council president at Ryan Gloyer Middle School, said the construction of the facility paralleled students’ academic journey.
“Every day we are being worked on, built up, but we don't always see those daily changes,” she said. “As the weeks and semesters pass, though, our teachers, administrators in these very buildings shape us into the people we are, and who we are becoming.”
Johns said she is excited for the new spaces that will open for future students.
Johns said she is thrilled for the new spaces, particularly the performing arts center and how it will help the district’s music program grow.
Steven Massaro, president of Massaro Corporation, the general contracting company for the project, highlighted the teamwork between district and various firms.
“This is fantastic,” said John Pappas, president of Eckles Construction Services. “There’s no better thing than getting to the point of hitting a milestone like this, and getting the building up and out of the ground.”
District superintendent Tracy Vitale said that while the ritual that took place Monday may be new to many onlookers, it comes from European traditions thousands of years ago which honored builders.
“When the highest point of a timber structure was reached, builders would place a tree or an evergreen at the top of the building,” said Vitale. “And over time, that tradition evolved.” In the U.S., the tradition came to be linked with the work of ironworkers.
At Seneca Valley, the tradition started with Ehrman Crest in 2021, and Vitale said the district plans to keep it going for “very good reasons.”
A tree was also attached to the beam on Monday, and Vitale said it “represents that this phase of construction has reached this point safely without the loss of life.”
Johns said she was happy to get to sign the beam, because it would be a connection between her and the campus forever.
After the project had been announced, some community members had expressed concern about the $165 million price tag and the need for the project.
“I’ve heard some people say that spending money on the art portion of the project is a bad idea,” said Johns, but she said she appreciates the district’s value for investing in new academic opportunities and the arts.
Vitale said on Monday that with ongoing growth in the area, new academic spaces are essential. She commended board members for supporting the upgrades to the campus.
“Enrollment continues to grow,” said Vitale. “This is a flourishing area. That is a good thing. We are proud of it.”
Pappas said once completely built, the academic wing will house students displaced after the existing building is torn down.
The construction team will work on enclosing the building in time for winter and start roofing work over the next month, he said.
The academic wing is expected to be finished in the summer of 2028, Pappas said, for students to start using the space for the 2028-2029 academic year. The performing arts center is aimed to be finished by summer of 2030.
“Years from now, we hope that students will continue to walk these halls, see that beam, and think about the hands that laid those beams,” said Vitale.
